THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Former Coach Faces Trial On Sexual Contact Charges

Issue Date: November 29, 2018

Former Coleman High School JV Volleyball Coach Jason Nieminski, 41, was arraigned in Marinette County Circuit Court Branch I on Monday, Nov. 26 on multiple charges related to allegedly having repeated sexual contact with a high school girl from October of 2017 to July of 2018. Nieminski waived a preliminary hearing, entered pleas of not guilty to all charges, and was bound over for trial.

A status conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23 before Judge David Miron in Branch 1 of Marinette County Circuit Court.

On Tuesday, Oct. 6 Nieminski was charged with two Class C Felony counts, one for 2nd Degree Sexual Assault of a Child and the other for Child Sexual Exploitation-Employ, Use, Induce; a Class D Felony count of possession of child pornography; a Class H Felony count of causing a child between the ages of 13 and 18 to view sexual activity; a Class I Felony count of exposing a child to harmful descriptions, and one misdemeanor count of intimidating a victim to dissuade reporting.

Maximum penalties, if convicted, could be up to 40 years in prison plus a $100,000 fine for each of the two Felony C counts; 25 years in prison plus $100,000 fine for the Felony D; six years in prison plus $10,000 fine on the Felony H; 3.5 years plus $10,000 fine on the Felony I, and up to 9 months in jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000 on the misdemeanor count.

At Nieminski's initial appearance on Tuesday, Nov. 6, Judge Miron sealed portions of the case related documents, issued a protective order to protect the identity of the victim, and issued an order to seal the victim identification key in regard to Nieminski.

He set bail at $10,000 cash, and imposed a number of restrictions, including that Nieminski sign a waiver of extradition, have no contact with Victim 1 or Victim 1's family, or residence, and have no contact with minors except for his own son. He is also to have no contact with schools, no access to social media and no consumption of alcohol or non-prescription drugs.

Nieminski was represented by Attorney Brent DeBord, and District Attorney DeShea Morrow appeared on behalf of the state. Nieminski participated from Marinette County Jail via video conference.

He was released on the $10,000 cash bond on Friday, Nov. 16.

At the Nov. 26 arraignment, DeBord request for modification of the no contact with minors bond conditions to provide that it states no contact with minors other than his son except incidental contact in a public work setting and no contact with minors as co-workers was approved.

The charges were brought against Nieminski after local authorities were alerted by a cyber tip from the Wisconsin Department of Justice Department of Criminal Investigation that some of his Facebook Messenger exchanges with the victim had been flagged for inappropriate content.

At its regular monthly meeting on February 19 Coleman School Board officially accepted Nieminski's resignation from the coaching position he had held for 14 years.